Pennsylvania’s voter-ID scheme looks even worse

Pennsylvania’s controversial, legally-dubious voter-ID scheme has suffered through some unpleasant headlines lately, but the problems are not going away.

For example, Republican Gov. Tom Corbett, who signed the voter-suppression measure into law, fielded a reporter’s question on the subject yesterday, and couldn’t remember the forms of ID he’s requiring his constituents to have.

Meanwhile, Daniel Denvir published this piece yesterday on just how serious a problem the new law may pose in Pennsylvania’s largest city.

The number of Pennsylvanians who might not have the photo identification necessary to vote this November has more than doubled: at least 1,636,168 registered voters, or 20 percent of Pennsylvania voters, may not have valid PennDOT-issued ID, according to new data obtained by City Paper. In Philadelphia, an enormous 437,237 people, or 43 percent of city voters, may not possess the valid PennDOT ID necessary to vote under the state’s controversial new law. […]

The new data, received and processed by the AFL-CIO, for the first time includes voters who had PennDOT licenses that have (as of Monday) been expired since Nov. 6, 2011 or an earlier date. If those people do not renew their licenses, the licenses will be expired by at least one year on election day and thus invalid under the new law.

Meanwhile, Meteor Blades has a good report on the ongoing court proceedings of the case challenging the legality of the state law.